Louis-heel breast-flap-trimming machine



P 1929- F. RICKS Er AL v 1,708,401

LOUIS HEEL BREAST FLAP TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l /Nl/ENTURS Aprifi 9, 1929.

F. Rlcks ET LOUIS HEEL BREAST FLAP TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTURS.

Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,708,401 PATENT OFFICE.

FRED RICKS AND REGINALD BOYD WOODCOCK, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A COR- PORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LOUIS-HEEL BREAST-FLAP-TRIMMING MACHINE.

Application filed September 13, 1927, Serial No. 219,286, and in GreatBritain September 28, 1926.

This invention relates to trimming machines and is herein disclosed as embodied in a machine designed to trim off the margins of a heel breast flap projecting beyond the sides of a Louis heel.

In the manufacture of womens shoes having Louis heels it is common practice to split the grain side of a sole from the heel seat area of the sole, to fasten the remaining flesh portion of the heel seat area of the sole to the shoe, and to attach the heel against the flesh portion of the heel-seat area of the sole. The grain portion thus split from the flesh portion is commonly called a breast flap, since it is ultimately laid against and cemented to the breast of the heel to'provide a cover therefor.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine adapted to trim the marginal portions of such a breast flap after the latter has been attached to the breast of a Louis heel, to the end that the configuration of the trimmed flap lll conform to the breast of the heel. The illustrated machine comprises a power-operated trimming cutter adapted to trim first one and then the other of the projecting margins of the breast flap flush with the sides of the heel and two co-operative guides arranged to engage the opposite faces of the breast flap adj acent to the point of out, said guides belng relatively movable one toward and from the other according to the thickness of the material passing between them and being maintained normally in close relation to each other by resilient means adapted to permit relative separation of them while the trimming is in progress.

The illustrated machine also provides for trimming right and left margins of a breast flap with substantially uniform operating conditions for both as, for example, starting at the top lift and progressing therefrom toward the shank of the shoe whether trim ming the right margin or the left margin of Fig. 2 is a front elevation of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the yoke centralizing device;

Fig. 4 is a diagram indicating the position of a leather covered heel during part of the trimming operation;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a shoe held in an operative position with one side uppermost, and includes the trimming cutter and work guides otherwise shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4; and

Fig. 6 is an elevation of treadle mechanism for operating certain controls shown in Fig. 1.

The illustrative machine about to be described comprises a base 1 (Fig. 1) which can be mounted either upon a column or upon a bench. A trunk 3 is vertically adjustable Within the base, means being provided for gripping the base to the trunk so as to hold the latter in adjusted position. Mounted upon the upper end of the trunk 3 is a head 5 in which is mounted a reversible cutter shaft 7 extending forwardly and rearwardly of the machine and provided at its front end with a cup cutter 9. The rear end of the cutter shaft is provided with a fixed pulley l1 and two loose pulleys 13 and 15. Two of these three pulleys are each connected by a belt to a pulley 14 on a counter-shaft 16. One of these belts, say 10, is connected in the normal fashion and the other 12 is crossed so that the two pulleys driven by the belts run in opposite directions. Normally the belts are, say, upon the pulleys 13 and 11 so that the belt 12 runs idly while the belt 10 drives the cutter shaft. WVhen the belts are shifted over to the pulleys 11 and 15 the belt 12 will now be the driving belt and will drive the cutter shaft in the direction reverse to that in which it was being driven by the belt 10. Below the shaft 7 there is mounted in the head of the machine a belt-shifting bar 21 carrying belt-embracing forks 23 and 25. The belt-shifting bar 21 has fixed to it a limit-stop 27 the upper end of which is adapted to reciprocate in a slot 28 in the head of the machine in order to prevent the bar from turning. An extension 29 from the head of the machine provides a bearing for the beltshifting bar 21 and limits the movement of the bar in both directions, in the one direction by contact with the limit-stop 27 and in the other direction by intact with the boss of the fork 25. A light spring 31 connected to the limit-stop 27 and to the head 5 normally holds the belt-shifting bar at the forward limit of its movement and the beltson the pulleys 13 and 11. 1

Pivoted at 33 to the belt-shifting bar 21 is a yoke 35 which is connected through a compression spring 37 (stronger than the spring 31) to a link 39 which is pivoted at 41 to one arm of a multiple-armed lever 43 fixed on a rock-shaft 45; a treadle rod 47 (connected to a treadle 48 which can be moved in either direction from a normal central position) is pivoted at 49 to another arm of the lever 43. The arrangement is such that upon movement of the treadle to raise the treadle rod 47 the belt-shifting bar 21 is moved rearwardly to shift the belts to the pulleys 11 and 15 and so reverse the movement of the cutter shaft, further movement of the treadle after the limit-stop 27 has come into contact with the extension 29 being permissible by reason of the spring connection between the link 39 and the yoke 35. Similarly on reverse movement when the belt-shifting bar is stopped in the position shown in Fig. 1 the link 39 can continue its downward movement. These supplemental movements of the rod 47 are provided for a reason that will appear.

The front portion of the head 5 is bored to receive a horizontal stem 51 which carries at its front end a head 53. The stem 51 is adapted to be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly and can be clamped in adjusted position. The head 53 is provided with a vertical dovetail groove in which there is mounted a slider 57 that has fixed to its front face two trimming gages or surface guides 59 extending downwardly to engage, alternately. a heel A, as shown in Fig. 4. The slider 57 and the gages 59 vcan be readily adjusted up and down by means of a screw 63 having a thumb piece 61 and a flange or collar 65. The screw 63 is threaded in the member 53 and the collar projects int-o a notch in the upper part of the slider 57 to form an operative connection. The gages 59 straddle and lie close to the periphery of the cutter 9 and are curved to conform to the curvature thereof.

The front of the upper portion of the head 5 is formed as a .long, irregularly shaped bracket 71. Surrounding the bracket 71 is a substantially rectangular yoke 73 which is pivoted to the bracket 71 by horizontal trunnions 75 and 77 above and parallel to the cutter shaft 7. Depending from the front of the yoke 73 is a central fork 79 between the branches of which the shank 83 of a doubleedged breast guide 85 is supported by a horizontal pivot pin 81. The right-hand edge of the guide 85 is arranged to cooperate with the right-hand gage 59 to guide the breast flap C along lines parallel to the axis of the cutter, and the left-hand edge of said guide is arranged to cooperate with the left-hand gage 59, according to whether the right-hand margin B or the left-hand margin B of the breast flap is presented to the cutter 9. When the breast guide is in central position, as indicated in Fig. 2, the spaces or gaps between it and the adjacent gages 59 are equal and such as to accommodate a breast flap having a minimum thickness. The breast guide 85 is normally held in its operative position by means of a springepressed locking bolt 87 which is carried by the fork 79 and is adapted to enter a hole in the shank 83. On withdrawing the bolt 87 the guide 85 may be rocked upwardly about its pivot 81 until it comes into the position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1, in whichposition it is held by means of a spring-pressed detent 89 which has a more or less conical point adapted to engage a conical recess 91 (Fig. 2) in the shank 83. This raising of the breast guide provides for detaching the cutter 9 from the shaft 7.

One rear corner of the yoke 73 is provided I with a lug 93 bored with a vertical hole through which passes loosely a vertical rod 95 connected at 97 to an arm of the multiplearmed lever 43. The upper end of the rod 95 is threaded and is provided with nuts 99 arranged respectively above and below the lug 93. The adjacent faces of the nuts 99 are formed more or less spherically and are adapt-ed to be received in similarly shaped sockets in the lug 93. The nuts 99 are so adjusted as to provide a certain amount of lost motion between them and the lug 93, the preferred adjustment being such that when the belts 12 and 10 are on the pulleys 13 and 11 the top nut 99 will just be in contact with the lug 93, it being assumed that the yoke 73 is in its median position. When the treadle is moved to pull down the rod 95, there will, as already explained, be no movement of the belt-shifting bar 21 to the left (considering Fig. 1) but the rod 95 will rock the yoke 73 so as to move the breast guide 85 to the right (considering Fig. 2). Then the treadle is released the yoke 73 will be brought back to horizontal position (by means to be described), which movement will, of course, raise the rod 95 and rock the lever 43 back into the position shown in Fig. 1. Movement of the treadle in the reverse directidn will first move the link 39 to the right (Fig. 1) and consequently will move the belt-shifting bar 21 to the right until it is stopped by contact of the limit-stop 27 with the extension 29. During this movement the rod 95 will rise relatively to the lug 93 until the lower nut 99 is in contact with the lug 93. so that upon further movement of the treadle in the same direction (there being of course no further movement of the belt-shifting bar 21) the yoke 73 will be rocked to shift the breast guide 85 to the left (Fig. 2). The movements of the breast guide 85 from side to side provide for the passage of relatively thick portions of the margins of the breast flap C without becoming wedged between the said guide and one or the other of the gages 59. It is to be noted that the lever 43 is provided with two adjustable stops 42 and 44 which are adapted to contact with adjacent parts of the machine frame and to limit the movement of the lever in opposite directions so that the corresponding limits of movement of the breast guide 85 can be varied as desired.

In order normally to centralize the breast guide 85 the head 5 is bored to receive a ver-i tical plunger 101 (Fig. 3) which is normally spring pressed upwardly and which carries at its upper end a head 103 having upon its upper surface two spaced ribs 105 which are adapted to contact with a cross-piece 107 affixed to the yoke 73. The arrangement is such that the upward pressure of the plunger will always tend to centralize the yoke but will permit rocking of the yoke in either direction from its median position.

The lower part of the head 5 supports a fixed horizontal bar 111 (Fig. 1) that is adjustable forwardly and rearwardly and that can be locked in adjusted position. The front end of the bar 111 supports a vertically adjustable steady pin 113 that is located under and in vertical register with the axis of the cutter 9. The pin 113 is adapted to be gripped by the third and fourth fingers of one hand of the operator in order to help him to steady the work as he moves it past the cutter.

The cup cutter 9 is beveled or rounded at the rear, as shown in Fig. 1, in order to provide as much space as possible for manipulation of the shoe, such beveling being especially necessary when the cut approaches the root D of the breast flap, since at that point the cutter must clear not only the actual heel but the upper of the shoe and must turn a sharp curve at E (Fig. 5). From an examination of Figs. 1 and 5 it will be noted that the gages 59 lap the cutting edge of the cutter forwardly and rearwardly; the lower edges of these gages are rounded both when regarded in elevation and in plan so as to facilitate the manipulation of the shoe as the cut proceeds along the breastof the heel toward the root of the flap. The breast guide.

is so shaped as to give adequate clearance for the projecting margin of the breast flap that is to be removed by the cutter and to provide for the necessary manipulation of the shoe. As will be noted from an examination of Figs. '4 and 5, the heel, during operation, lies with one side uppermost and the cutting is effected by a segment of the cutter at one side of the vertical center line thereof so that the cut is executed at an angle to the side face of the heel, with the result that the edge of the breast flap is not cut square but is somewhat beveled as shown in Fig. 4, this beveling being usually desirable. Moreover,

since the point of cut is offset a considerable distance from the vertical center of the cutter, and is therefore at a level above that of the lowest point of the cutting edge, the severed remnant or marginal strip, on striking the curved or beveled rear wall of the cutter, is easily deflected by the latter toward the vertical Center. Thus, as the length of the severed margin increases, the leading end of the remnant curves and passes around the rear of the breast guide 85 and eventually comes out of the cutter at the front, but at the opposite side of the breast guide without encountering either of the guides 59 which, as shown, are arranged to clear it. This behavior of the remnant is represented in Figs. 2 and 4 and to some extent in Fig. 5. Figs. 2 and 4 also show the clearance between the lower edge of the remnant and the bottom wall of the cutter, which is due to the described location of the cutting point with reference to the lowest part of the cutter.

As regards the direction of rotation of the cutter 9, it is considered desirable, when operating upon a breast flap that is of somewhat coarse and loose grained leather, that the cutting edge should out while moving away from the heel so that if any rag or fuzz is to be formed thereby it will be upon the outer surface of the breast flap from which it can be easily removed in the finishing operation. The illustrated'machine is belted to operate in the manner just explained. On the. other hand, if the adhesive used for attaching the breast flap to the breast of the heel has insufficient holding power, or if the trimming operation is being performed before the adhesive has properly set, it might be preferable to cause the cutting edge to cut while moving toward the heel, so that there should be no tendency of the cutter to drag the flap away from the breast of the heel but rather a tendency to press the flap against the breast. The particular direction of cut will depend upon .the arrangement of the bolts 10 and 12, the actual rotation of the cutter being, of course, reversed when the opposite side of the breast flap is being operated upon; on both sides the direction of the cutting action of the cutter is always the same, that is, either toward or away from the breast of the heel,

as the case may be.

In some cases it may be desirable that the movement of the breast guide 85 should not be under the control of the operator but should be automatically determined, as the breast flap advances between the guides, by the effective thickness of the breast flap at the place where the cut is taking place. In such an event the rod may be disconnected from the multiple-armed lever 43 or the nuts 99 may be so far separated that they are not effective to move the yoke 73.

The operation of the machine will now be described with particular reference to Fig.

2. The operator holds the shoe on its side with the toe pointing toward the right and the heel away from him, the median line of the shoe being substantially horizontal. He grasps the shoe at about the ball line with his right hand and grasps the heel end of the shoe with the thumb and first and second fingers of his left hand. He then presents the heel A to the cutter 9 with the upstanding margin B of the flap C between the left-hand surface gage 59 and the left-hand edge of the breast guide 85, the lower surface of said gage 59 touching the upper'side of the heel A and the tip of said gage touching the lefthand surface of the margin 13. The breast flap C is vertical and the breast guide 85 touches and braces the grain surface of the breast flap at the tread end of the heel, that is, where the breast flap is thinnest. Having positioned the shoe thus, the operator grasps the steady pin 113 with the third and fourth fingers of his left hand and commences to push the heel away from him, that is, along lines substantially parallel to the axis of the cutter, and so to the edge of the cutter 9, meanwhile turning and manipulating the shoe so that the cut will follow the curvatures of the edge of the heel breast and manipulating the treadle to move the breast guide 85 toward the right if the breast flap is thicker toward its root or if the shoe is canted so as to increase the effective thickness of the breast fla 'Ihis operation having been completed, the operator releases the treadle and the breast guide 85 com-es back to central position. The operator then reverses the shoe and presents the other margin B of the flap to the cutter between the right-hand surface gage 59 and the right-hand side of the breast guide 85 (Figs. 4 and 5), at the same time moving the treadle sufficiently far in the reverse direction to cause the direction of rotation of the cutter to be reversed. He then proceeds with the trimming operation as already described.

If it is desired that the operator should not control the movement of the breastguide 85, then the yoke 7 3 may be disconnected from the multiple-armed lever 43 as already described. In this case the treadle is used merely to reverse the rotation of the cutter, and the breast guide 85 will yield under the pressure of the'breast of the heel upon it, but otherwise the trimming operation is performed as already described.

In the case of heels covered with soft leather or any other compressible material, the upward pressure with which the heel is held against one or the other of the gages 59 results in a slight compression or indentation of the cover by the tip of the gage. Thus, while the cutter may not trim the projecting margin of the flap C quite flush with the heel cover at the point where, and at the moment when, the cutting takes place, the temporarily compressed portion of the cover subsequently expands to its normal thickness and thereby compensates for any slight temporary projection of the trimmed margin of the flap, with the result that the trimmed edge of the flap is flush with the heel cover after the latter is disengaged from the guide 59. On the other hand, if the heel cover is made of some non-compressible material, for example celluloid, the'avoidance of projection of the trimmed margin of the flap may be effected by tipping the heel under the cutter and at the same time retracting the breast guide 85 from the tip of the gage 59 then in use as may be requi'red to provide for the apparent effective increase of thickness of the intervening stock'due to such tipping. In the latter case the breast flap, instead of being maintained vertical or nearly so during the trimming operation, will be inclined more or less as occasion requires.

It will be noted that the guides are initially so set that the notch or space between them is just wide enough to receive in correct position the thinnest part of the projecting margin of the breast flap, usually the end adj acent to the tread end of the heel. The spring which holds the guidestoward one another is preferably so strong that the guides cannot be forced apart by the shoe as the operator manipulates it, thus eliminating the risk of cutting into the heel-covering itself, which would otherwise arise. By means of the treadle, however, the operator can overcome the spring as and when necessary during the travel of the cut along the margin of the breast flap so that he is enabled to deal with an increasing actual thickness or an increasing apparent thickness, due in the latter case to the cut being made at an increasing angle to the outer surface of the flap as the cut approaches the waist of the shoe, this increas ing angle being desirable so as to blend the cut neatly into the general outline of the shoe at the sides of the waist. As already stated, the machine can be so arranged that the width of the notch or space between the guides is not under the control of the operator during the operation but in this case the spring, although made weaker than in the case of operator control, will still be so strong that considerable force must be used by the operator to widen the gap, thus even in this case reducing to a very great extent the risk of cutting into the heel-covering itself.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a trimming cutter arranged to sever a projecting breast flap margin progressively along an edge of a heel to which the flap is secured, a gage and a guide arranged to engage opposite faces of the breast flap adjacent to the point of the trimming out, said gage and said guide being relatively movable one toward and from the other occording to the thickness of the breast flap, and resilient means arranged to maintain said gage and said guide normally in close relation but to permit separation thereof while the trimming is in progress.

2. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a trimming cutter arranged to sever a projecting breast flap margin progressively along an edge of a heel to which the flap is secured, a gage and a guide arranged to engage opposite faces of the breast flap adjacent to the point of the trimming cut, said gage and said guide being relatively movable one toward and from the other according to the thickness of the breast flap, and manually operative means arranged to effect relative opening and closing movement of said gage and said guide while the trimming is in progress.

3. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a power-operated trimming cutter arranged to sever a projecting breast flap margin progressively along an edge of a heel to which the flap is secured, a gage arranged to engage a side of the heel and one face of the breast flap adjacent to the trimming locality, a guide arranged to engage the opposite face of the breast flap, said gage and said guide being relatively movable one toward and from the other according to the thickness of the breast flap material between them, and manually operative means arranged to effect such relative movement of said gage and guide while the trimming is in progress.

4. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary annular cutter having a circular cutting edge arranged to sever a margin of a breast flap projecting beyond a side of a heel, a breast guide arranged to engage the outer face of the body of the breast flap lying on the breast of the heel, and a trimming gage arranged to engage simulta neously the side of the heel and the projecting margin of the breast flap adjacent to the trimming locality.

5. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary annular cutter having a circular cutting edge arranged to sever a margin of a breast flap projecting beyond a side of a heel, a breast guide arranged to engage the outer face of the body of the breast flap lying on the breast of the heel, a trimming gage arranged to engage both the side of the heel and the projecting margin of the breast flap adjacent to the trimming locality, said breast guide being movable toward and from said trimming gage according to the thickness of the stock between them, and resilient means arranged to maintain said breast guide normally in close relation to said gage.

6. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising right and left trimming gages each arranged to engage one side of a heel and the rear face of a projecting margin of a heel breast flap secured to the heel, a rotary annular trimming cutter arranged between said gages to sever right and left margins of such breast flap one at a time, and a breast guide having one surface to co-operate with one of said gages and another surface to cooperate with the other one of said gages to locate the right and left margins respectively.

7. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising right and left trimming gages each arranged to engage one side of a'heel and the rear face of a projecting margin of a heel breast flap secured to the heel, a rotary an nular trimming cutter arranged between said gages to sever right and left margins of such breast flap one at a time, a breast guide having one surface to co-operate with one of said gages and another surface to co-operate with the other one of said gages to locate the right and left margins respectively, said breast guide being movable from side to side while the trimming is in progress, and manually operative means arranged to shift said breast guide from side to side in accordance with the thickness of the margin at the trimming locality.

8. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising right and left trimming gages each arranged to engage one side of a heel and the rear face of a projecting margin of a heel breast flap secured to the heel, a rotary annular trimming cutter arranged between said gages to sever right and left margins of such breast flap one at a time, a breast guide having one surface to co-operate with one of said gages and another surface to co-operate With the other one of said gages to locate the right and left margins respectively, said breast guide being movable from side to side in accordance with the thickness of the margin at the trimming locality, and resilient means arranged to maintain said breast guide normally in a median position and to return it to said position from positions at opposite sides thereof.

9. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary trimming cutter adapted to trim a right side margin of a heel breast flap while rotating in one direction and a left side margin of such flap while rotating in the opposite direction, adjustable driving means arranged to rotate said cutter alternatively in the two said directions, controlling means arranged to adjust said driving means to reverse the rotation of said cutter, and adjustable work-guiding means connected to said controlling means to be adjusted thereby.

10. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising-a rotary trimming cutter adapted to trim a right side margin of a heel breast flap while rotating'in one direction and a left side margin of such flap while rotating in the opposite direction, adjustable driving means arranged to rotate said cutter alternatively in the two said directions, an adjustable breast guide having opposite breast-engaging surfaces, one for a heel facing in one direction and the other for a heel facing in the opposite direction, manually operative means arranged to shift said breast guide in opposite directions according to the thickness of the material at the trimming locality, the latter said means having a lost-motion connection, and means arranged to be operated by said manually operative means to adjust said driving means for the purpose of reversing the rotation of said cutter.

11. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary annular trimming cutter having an annular cutting edge formed and arranged to sever a margin of a breast flap projecting beyond a side of a heel, and means arranged adjacent to the trimming locality to guide said margin to said cutting edge along lines substantially parallel to the axis of said cutter and to maintain said margin at an angle such as to insure a substantial bevel of the trimmed edge of the flap.

12. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary trimming cutter having an annular cutting edge, the axis of said outter being substantially horizontal, and said edge being adapted to sever a margin of the breast flap projecting beyond a side of a heel, and means arranged to guide said margin in anupright position to a point of said cutting edge removed a substantial distance from the bottom center of the cutter.

13. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary cup-shaped cutter having an annular cutting edge adapted to sever a margin of a breast flap projecting beyond an edge of a heel, and a breast guide extending across the front of said cutter in register with the vertical diameter thereof, said guide having right and left guiding surfaces for right and left trimming, said cutter being formed to deflect the remnant of severed material behind said guide and out of the mouth of the cutter at the side opposite the one at which it entered.

14. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising two cooperative guides arranged to function simultaneously, one to engage a side of a heel and a laterally projecting margin of a breast flap lying on the breast of the heel, and the other to maintain the breast flap in contact with said one, and a rotary annular cut-ter having a circular cutting edge at one end arranged to sever said margin flush with that side of the heel.

15. A heel breast flap trimming machine comprising a rotary cup-shaped cutter having an annular cutting edge arranged to sever a laterally projecting margin of a breast flap lying on the breast of a heel, and right and left guides arranged one to guide the right side of a heel when the right margin of a breast flap is being severed and the other to guide the left side of a heel when the left margin of a breast flap is being severed, said guides being formed and arranged to clear the severed remnants of Waste material that issue from the front of said cutter.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

FRED RIOKS. REGINALD BOYD WOODCOCK. 

